Centre for Women's Development Studies

Centre for Women's Development Studies
Type ICSSR supported Research Institute
Established 1980
Chairperson Kumud Sharma
Director Indu Agnihotri
Location Gole Market, New Delhi, Delhi, India
Nickname CWDS
Website http://www.cwds.ac.in

The Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) was founded in 1980 by a group of scholars and activists committed to expanding and transforming accepted notions of gender-related research and action across the social sciences. The establishment of the Centre was a direct outcome of the experiences of its founders—some of them had been an integral part of the path-breaking Towards Equality (Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India, 1974) while others had participated in the Indian Council of Social Science Research's introduction of women's studies (1976–80).

Through its research, action, documentation, training and networking in the intervening years, the Centre has been steadily deepening its critical analyses of trends and issues related to women and gender. Seeking new directions in feminist scholarship, its faculty have initiated and facilitated multi-disciplinary explorations, found new institutional partners as well as shared its research findings with a growing network of scholars and activists. In response to the major economic, political and cultural shifts and unanticipated challenges that have brought us into the twenty-first century, CWDS is effecting a synergy between existing concerns and new compulsions.

The CWDS is among the most well-known institutions committed to the theory and practice of women's studies and gender justice in the region. It consists of a faculty with diverse research interests, actively promotes advocacy and policy interventions, and houses an impressive library and documentation centre. Located in the heart of New Delhi, the Centre attracts scholars, students, activists, and many others from India and abroad who draw on its resources and varied expertise.

Major Activities

The major activities of the Centre include: In its formative years, an underlying commitment of the CWDS was to play the role of catalyst, stimulating processes which would work towards the constitutional goals of women's equality and participation in all aspects of national life. The early research projects of the Centre – on land rights, women's work, natural resources, the law, and family strategies (to name a few) – as well as its action project in West Bengal have reflected a quest to better understand the forces at play in Indian society from the perspectives of women’s lives, especially the most disenfranchised.

Since then, the Centre has seen an accretion in its staff as well as in the spread of activities and interests. Some broad research areas of the current faculty include:

Action Research

From its inception, the Centre’s intention has been to work for change by going beyond the conventions of pure research and academic neutrality. Action research was a direct outcome of this strategy and came to be most fully realised in the Project in West Bengal. Combining women's grassroots' empowerment with enhanced livelihood skills, the Project gave hitherto marginalised rural women a voice in shaping their lives and that of their communities. Our action research projects have demonstrated how grassroots women's organisations – otherwise the most remote from institutions of higher education – can be partners in the production of knowledge about women’s lives and struggles.

Library Services

The CWDS library is a specialised resource centre, housing one of the most comprehensive collections of published and unpublished material relating to women in India. Its vast array of resources include books, journals, conference documents, newsletters and an extensive corpus of newspaper clippings. The library also provides a range of regular information services, which include the monthly Current Awareness Service Bulletin, the Library Reading List Series, a listing of current contents of periodicals and analytical alert service, which informs users about the contents of edited volumes received by the library. It also prepares thematic bibliographies on various issues.

The CWDS library initiated BOL – an Electronic Discussion List on gender issues in South Asia in January 2000. The library has in the last few years been actively developing its electronic outreach and new forms of digitization. The library is in the process of building an archive for researchers in women’s studies through its website.

Publications

CWDS has always valued the critical importance of the dissemination of its work through diverse channels. Ongoing research work undertaken by the Centre is quickly brought out through its Occasional Papers series and monographs, apart from regular contributions through books, articles and reports. The first women's studies journal – Samya Shakti was brought out by CWDS from 1988 to 1994. Subsequently, renamed The Indian Journal of Gender Studies, this best-selling and internationally acclaimed journal is now published three times a year and distributed by Sage Publications.

Photo Archive

An increasing appreciation of the role of visual archives in enhancing an understanding of women’s changing roles and status in India led to the establishment of a photographic archive on women in the per-independence period. Since its creation, this first national level photographic archive on women for the period 1875-1947 has taken on multiple forms, through a traveling exhibition, a series of calendars and a major book.

Teaching Women's Studies

Faculty of the Centre have been actively if informally contributing through lectures and workshops to developing the teaching, pedagogy and curriculum creation of women’s studies in different contexts. In the late 90s, the CWDS initiated the idea of using the UGC refresher course structure to introduce women’s studies to college and university teachers, which was subsequently taken up in different parts of the country with considerable success. Short Orientation Courses in Women’s Studies have also been offered by the Centre, and in 2010 an intensive six-week Research Training Course was offered for students intent on pursuing doctoral or research work in the field.

The CWDS in collaboration with Ambedkar University Delhi, Delhi started full-fledged Ph.D Programme in Women's Studies at the Centre, which aims to provide a rigorous inter-disciplinary methodological grounding and a conducive atmosphere for a new generation of researchers.

Advocacy and Networking

CWDS has been a founding member of various networks including the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS), Forum for Creche and Child Care Services](FORCES) and the National Network of Women’s Organisations based in Delhi. The Centre is an institutional member of the Delhi Library Network (DELNET) and INDEV, an electronic network on development information. In association with various networks and organisations, the Centre has initiated advocacy on various issues such as the rights of children, reservations for women, the right to food, the rights of forest people, protests against the population policy, questions of legal reform, and so on.

Financial Support

Since 1984, the CWDS has received support from the Indian Council of Social Science Research, under the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It has also been able to carry out its work with financial assistance from numerous other organisations, including HIVOS, the Ford Foundation, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the International Development Research Centre, Plan India, among others.

CWDS has been home to a range of ideas, debates and perspectives involving persons across generations, ideological positions and institutional locations. For the future, it hopes to build on its existing strengths while not shying away from new challenges.

References

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